The Oncoming Storm
by lawnmowerelf
Summary: After Elle leaves the BAU, Spencer takes her on a little trip.


"I know what should happen. I know what you deserve. Exterminate!" The Ninth Doctor

The instant Spencer stepped into the room he knew. Elle was gone, and she wasn't coming back. It was written all over Hotch's face for anyone who knew how to look; the way his jaw was clenched just a little more than normal and the way his eyes looked just a bit sadder when he glanced over at Elle's desk.

And even though Spencer was incredibly tired, and heartsick from discovering that their unsub had been an eight-year-old child, he refused to let Elle just slip away without a fight.

The TARDIS seemed almost eager to park itself outside Elle's house, most likely feeling his own need to at least try to help her. He headed to the front door, hoping desperately that she wasn't already gone, and knocked.

He let out a nearly silent sigh of relief when the door finally opened to reveal Elle. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he flashed her a small smile. "Look, I know you probably wanted to disappear without having to say goodbye to anyone, but I couldn't let you leave without apologizing. I knew you weren't at your best, and whatever happened I feel like it was partly my fault for not helping you more. And no, Hotch didn't say anything to anyone."

Elle sighed, leaning against the door frame. "Reid, nothing was your fault and you don't need to blame yourself. I don't."

"I appreciate that, Elle, but I still don't feel like I did everything I could to help you." He shrugged, hands still in his pockets. "I wanted to try to make it up to you before you left. And I wanted to show you something."

Elle frowned, glancing back inside the house for a moment. "You really don't have to do that, Reid."

"I know that. I want to." He widened his eyes, giving her a look that put most puppies to shame. "Please?"

She snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. "All right, all right. Just put that away before you hurt someone."

He grinned, mostly at hearing her laugh. "Thank you. No one else on the team knows, and I've missed having someone to talk about it with." He led her across the street and around the corner, grin widening when she stopped and stared at the TARDIS.

"That wasn't there when I came home, Reid. Whatever it is."

"I know. That's part of what I wanted to show you." He rapped his knuckles on the side of the TARDIS, motioning for Elle to do the same. "Perfectly normal wood, right?"

Elle nodded, one eyebrow arched. "You brought me a big blue wooden box to do a magic trick?"

He smiled and shrugged. "Sort of. You're sure that this is an ordinary wooden box, nothing special about it?"

She frowned in suspicion, but nodded again. "Knowing you, Reid, it's probably not but it certainly looks and feels like one."

Spencer pulled a key from his pocket and slid it into the lock, then pushed the door open. "Take a peek inside, then."

He could tell the instant that Elle realized just what she was seeing inside the TARDIS. Her spine straightened as she froze, before she nearly ran him over as she backed up. "What the hell, Reid?"

"I'm an alien, Elle, and this is my ship. She's called the TARDIS: Time and Relative Dimensions in Space."

Elle blinked furiously before carefully edging back towards the doorway and poking her head back inside. "It's bigger on the inside, Reid. A lot bigger."

Spencer grinned. "She's dimensionally transcendental. Want to see inside?"

"This is absolutely crazy, Reid." But even as she protested, Elle let Spencer lead her into the TARDIS. "You're an alien, which might actually explain a few things, and your spaceship looks like a phone booth on the outside."

He grimaced a bit at that. "It's got a system to change the appearance of the outside, but the chameleon circuit got stuck as a police box a long time ago and I never bothered to fix it. It's kind of grown on me, though." He moved to close the door behind Elle, then smiled at her. "Want to go on a trip?"

She was silent for a long moment, just staring at the console room. Eventually, her lips curled up in a small smile. "Why the hell not? I've got nowhere else to be."

Spencer grinned, dashing over to the main console and setting the TARDIS moving. "Then hold on tight. She hasn't gone anywhere in a few years, and the ride may be a bit turbulent."

Almost before he finished speaking the TARDIS lurched to the side, and Elle had to grab one of the support struts to keep from being flung in the floor. "You weren't kidding, were you, Reid?"

He shrugged, glancing at her over his shoulder. "They're meant to be piloted by more than one person, really. I've had to jury-rig the controls some, but the ride will never be completely smooth without additional pilots."

"So where are we going anyway?"

Spencer slammed his hand down on a large red button and the TARDIS came to a shuddering halt. "The Eye of Orion, and we've just landed." He paused, running a hand through his hair and frowning. "At least, I hope we have."

Elle stared at him with wide eyes. "What do you mean, you hope?"

"Well, sometimes I don't end up quite where or when I intend to." He flashed her an awkward smile and headed for the door. "Anyway, let's take a look and see." He stuck his head out, smiling in relief at the familiar landscape. "Right where I'd intended to be. Come on out, Elle. Enjoy the positive ions."

Elle arched an eyebrow at him, but stepped slowly out of the TARDIS. She gasped, eyes going wide and shoulders subtly relaxing. "Spencer, this is amazing."

Spencer just leaned back against the TARDIS and watched her with a content smile. The tension that she'd been carrying since being shot was slowly starting to diminish and her smile was finally reaching her eyes. He'd done the right thing in bringing her.

She wandered around for over an hour before finally returning to the TARDIS and sitting down on a nearby rock, leaning back against a tree. "Thank you so much, Spencer. For bringing me here and for trusting me. It means a lot to me."

Spencer moved to sit on the ground in front of her. "You're my friend, Elle. And I want you to know that if you ever want to talk, about anything, I'll listen. And I won't judge you, either." He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked back up at her. "I have more blood on my hands than you could ever have, and some of it was innocent."

"I don't understand." She leaned forward, resting one hand on his knee.

"There was a war, and we were losing. And we were the only ones holding the Daleks back from exterminating the entire universe." He lowered his eyes but reached out to hold Elle's hand. "In the end it came down to mutual destruction, and I was the one who pushed the button. Two entire civilizations went down in flames, and I was the only one left."

"Oh, Spencer." Elle slid down from the rock and pulled Spencer into a hug.

He wrapped his arms around Elle, resting his head on her shoulder. "There's a reason that I'm known in some circles as The Oncoming Storm."

They stayed there, arms around each other, for a long time before Elle spoke. "How long can we stay here anyway?"

Spencer huffed out a quiet laugh. "If I could operate the time travel circuits we could stay here as long as we wanted. Since I can't at the moment, we've got until Monday to get back before Hotch starts looking for me." He paused, nudging Elle slightly. "But if you ever want to come back, or go somewhere else, all you have to do is call me and we'll go. Promise."

Elle smiled, shifting them both around so they could lean back against the rock she'd been sitting on earlier. "I'm gonna hold you to that, you know."

"I know." And for the next little while they just sat and watched the clouds roll by.


End file.
